A man well-known for his role in introducing the President and First Lady is now facing allegations of exploiting his connections with the White House to have his former girlfriend and the mother of his child deported.

According to The New York Times, Paolo Zampolli, a 56-year-old modeling agent credited with bringing First Lady Melania Trump to the United States, allegedly contacted a senior official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last June. The report suggests he requested that his ex-girlfriend be placed in ICE detention.

Zampolli, who holds the position of a special representative for global partnerships under President Trump, reportedly believed this action might aid him in gaining custody of his son, as mentioned in the newspaper.

“At no point did I ask for any favors from my colleagues,” Zampolli told the Daily Mail on Friday afternoon. “My inquiries were purely to understand the circumstances, and any guidance I sought was solely concerning my son’s well-being.”

He further clarified that he did not initiate any report against his ex, Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro, to immigration authorities.

Ungaro has ties to the Epstein scandal, as she was reportedly a passenger on the infamous plane, the Lolita Express, during her teenage years.

The model also previously served as Grenada’s ambassador to the United Nations. 

She met Zampolli as a 17-year-old, when the modeling scout was 32. 

The relationship would last two decades, with the couple now the parents of 16-year-old son. Their relationship broke down in 2023, and she left him and moved to Brazil and married a doctor.  

Zampolli also told the Daily Mail that their son is now in his custody. 

Ungaro was in a Miami jail after being arrested in June 2025 on fraud charges related to the activities at the Med Spa where she was employed. She plead not guilty. 

The Times report said that Zampolli reached out to immigration official David Venturella. He then called ICE’s Miami office to ensure that Ungaro would be picked up by ICE agents before she was released on bail. 

Venturella said the case was important to someone with close ties to the White House, the newspaper said. 

In September, after weeks in ICE custody, Ungaro asked an immigration judge to deport her back to Brazil. She believed that if she stayed in ICE jail for any longer, she would lose custody of her son. 

Their son asked to move to Brazil with her in November – which Zampolli agreed to. But by the end of 2025, their son decided to move back to the United States.  

Zampolli also denied to the Times that Ungaro’s deportation was due to favoritism, a sentiment echoed in a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

‘Any suggestion that she was arrested and removed for political reasons or favors is FALSE,’ the statement to the Times read. 

She had already been flagged for ICE detention, according to people familiar with the situation talking to the Times.  

The explanation DHS gave was that Ungaro was in the US on a visa that had expired in 2019, and had been charged with a crime. 

A spokesman for Melania Trump told the Times that the first lady ‘has no knowledge of, nor involvement in, the personal affairs of Mr. Zampolli and Ms. Ungaro.’  

Ungaro told the newspaper ‘it’s devastating that they could have affected what happened to me,’ regarding the allegation that her former partner had got involved in her ICE case.

The Daily Mail has made efforts to contact Ungaro, but has been able to do so, as of the date of this article.